[Intro - Spoken, birds starting, traffic faint] Six o'clock. Sun come up at 6:12 out here. I looked it up. So that's twelve minutes. Twelve minutes and it's a different day, and a different day mean a different answer. I know how this work. [Verse 1] Seven hours I been on this street Same spot, engine cold, radio off Watched the paper man come and go Watched that light change on your third floor twice You called me back at 5:47 And you ain't say no But you ain't say nothin' I could hold So I'm still here [Pre-Chorus] And the sky doin' that thing that it do That gray it get right before it go blue And I know what that mean for a man like me That mean I'm runnin' out of night [Chorus] Before the sun come up Come downstairs, that's the whole thing I'm not askin' for the rest of my life I'm askin' for twelve minutes Before the sun come up While it's still last night, while I can still take it back 'Cause everything look different in the mornin' And I don't wanna see it Before the sun come up [Verse 2] I still got your key in my hand Been holdin' it like it meant somethin' Like a key is the same thing as a place I'll leave it in the box downstairs I'll leave it right now if you tell me to But if you comin' down, girl, come down 'Cause I can't do both [Pre-Chorus] Streetlights just cut off on the corner Birds started up like nothin' happened Twelve minutes Twelve minutes and I gotta be a man about it [Chorus] Before the sun come up Come downstairs, that's the whole thing I'm not askin' for the rest of my life I'm askin' for twelve minutes Before the sun come up While it's still last night, while I can still take it back 'Cause everything look different in the mornin' And I don't wanna see it Before the sun come up [Bridge - Half time, strings drop to one held note, Rhodes only, spoken] Look. I ain't gon' stand out here and lie to you. I heard what you said at 5:47. I heard it. I just been actin' like I didn't for thirteen minutes. [Bridge - Sung, building, strings swell back] So say it again in the daylight if you mean it Say it where I can see your face And I'll go I swear before God I'll go But make me hear it in the sun Don't let me drive home guessin' Not again Not again [Final Chorus - Modulate up a half step to B major, full arrangement, stacks maximum] Before the sun come up Come downstairs, that's the whole thing I'm not askin' for the rest of my life I'm askin' for twelve minutes Before the sun come up While it's still last night, while I can still take it back 'Cause everything look different in the mornin' And I already know what I'ma see Before the sun come up [Vamp - Stacks, ad-libs, runs live here only, does not resolve] Before the sun come up (come down, come down) Before the sun come up (I'm right here, I'm right here) Twelve minutes, girl (that's all, that's all) Before the sun come up (ohh) It's gettin' light, it's gettin' light Before the sun come up (come down) I'm still standin' here...
